Essay topics and Medical Ethics Flashcards
4 pillars of medical ethics
beneficence- doing good
non-maleficence- do no harm
justice- equal treatment of all individuals
autonomy- patient’s right to make their own decisions
5 key virtues in virtue ethics
compassion, discernment, trustworthiness, integrity and conscientiousness
concequentialism
The morality of a decision depends on the consequences. If the consequence is good then the decision was right but if they are bad then the decision was wrong.
legal definition of death
brain stem death ie. person is said to stop being alive in everything but a mechanical sense
Department of Health’s A Code of Practice for the Diagnosis of Brain Stem Death (1998)
(1) the coma cannot be due to reversible causes,
(2) several components of the brain stem including the respiratory centre must be permanently destroyed and (3) the patient must be unable to breathe spontaneously.
Brain stem death must be confirmed by two medical practitioners.